Ground-effect transportation system

ABSTRACT

A ground effect transit system in which an air cushion vehicle moves over a track having a guiding upright which is laterally offset with respect to a bearing track surface. The vehicle is provided on each side with a retractable guiding device in the form of an inverted U straddling the upright when the device is in its operative position, so that the vehicle may then be guided selectively from its port side, or from its starboard side, or from both its port and starboard sides. Such a device is useful for marshalling the tracked air cushion vehicle.

United States Patent Bertin [4 Feb.22, 1972 GROUND-EFFECT TRANSPORTATIONSYSTEM Inventor:

[72] Jean Henri Bertin, Neuilly-sur-Seine,

France Assignee: Bertin 8: Cie, Plaisir, France Filed: Apr. 16, 1970Appl. No.: 29,141 K Related US. Application Data Continuation-impart ofSer. No. 782,968, Dec. 11, 1968.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 16, 1969 France ..6911817 IUS. Cl ..104/23 FS, 104/134, 104/130, I 104/244.l

Int. Cl .3615 13/08 Field of Search 104/23 FS, 134, 244.1, 88, 104/130[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,451,351 6/1969 Hawes..l04/130 3,363,584 1/1968 Brush 104/88 3,500,765 3/1970 Easton.....104/ 130 3,482,528 12/1969 Guienne 104/23 FS 1 PrimaryExaminer--Arthur L. Laloint 1 Assistant Examiner-D. W. KeenAttorney-Stevens, Davis, Miller & Mosher ABSTRACT A ground effecttransit system in which an air cushion vehicle moves over a track havinga guiding upright which is laterally offset with respect to a bearingtrack surface. The vehicle is provided on each side with a retractableguiding device in the form of an inverted U straddling the upright whenthe device is in its operative position, so that the vehicle may then beguided selectively from its port side, or from its starboard side,

or from both its port and starboard sides. Such a device is useful formarshalling the tracked air cushion vehicle.

6 Claims, 20 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEBZZ I972 3,643 ,SOO

SHEET 3 BF 5 g I07 103 104 lO6c PATENTEDFEBZZ I972 SHEET 5 [IF 5 7 1GROUND-EFFECT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM This is a continuation-in-part of mycopending patent application Ser. No. 782,968 filed on Dec. 11, 1968.

in this copending application is described a ground effecttransportation system which comprises:

on the one hand, a dissymmetrical track having a base section with anupwardly facing bearing surface and an extension with two oppositelaterally facing guiding surfaces projecting upwardly from said basesection, said extension being laterally offset with respect to said basesection, and

on the other hand, a ground-effect machine movable along said track withthe interposition of a fluid cushion formed against said bearingsurface, said machine comprising a body portion borne on said fluidcushion and a guiding device mechanically attached to said body portionand projecting outside to a laterally offset location with respectthereto, said guiding device extending astride said extension andcomprising oppositely acting means respectively engaging said oppositeguiding surfaces.

An object of the present invention is to improve such guiding device tothe effect of rendering it retractable, the machine being then guided byother means which may be conventional.

Another object of this invention is to permit switching of the machinefrom one track to another, as for marshalling purposes.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a controllableguiding system which may be substituted to or operated in conjunctionwith conventional guiding means.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic part sectional plan view of an embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 2 is a section on the line llII of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 to 5 are sectional views similar to FIG. 2 illustrating threefurther embodiments of the invention;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are diagrammatic plan views illustrating transportationsystems by which a vehicle according to the invention can be transferredfrom one track to another;

F IGS. 8a to 8g are sectional views of the track taken on the linesVilla-Vllla to Vlllg-Vlllg of FIG. 6; and

FIGS. 9a to 9f are sectional views of the track taken on the lineslXa-lXa to lXf-lXf of FIG. 7.

ln the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 and 2, the vehicle 101 issupported above the upper surfaces 103a, 103b of the track 103 bypressure fluid cushions 104 having flexible peripheral walls 105. Thetrack 103 is provided with upwardly projecting guide extensions or rails107 and 110a, 110b arranged centrally and laterally respectively of thetrack 103, and the vehicle is provided with central and lateral guidemeans which cooperate with said guide rails. The central guide meansprovided on the vehicle comprises a central inverted U-shapedlongitudinal channel 102 provided on each of its inner walls withpressure fluid cushions 106a, 106b.

In accordance with the present invention the vehicle 101 is providedalso with guide means 108a, 108b, provided with pressure fluid cushions1060, each adapted to be extended on one side of the vehicle tocooperate with the laterally disposed guide rails 110a, ll0brespectively.

The guide means 108a, 10811 are arranged with guide elements grouped inpairs, and said guide means on opposite 1 sides of the vehicle may bearranged offset relative to each other or disposed opposite, that is inalignment with each other as shown.

The guide means 108a, 108b are mounted on the vehicle 101 by means oftelescopic members 111a, lllb carried by support means 112a, 1l2brespectively, whereby each of said guide means can be moved into anoperative position, as shown in full lines on the left-hand side of FIG.2, in which it cooperates with the respective guide rail, or into aninoperative position, as shown in broken lines on the right-hand side ofH6. 2, in which it is housed within the body of the vehicle below thefloor thereof. The telescopic members 111a, lllb may be in the form ofhydraulic or pneumatic rams and preferably means for controlling theoperation of said members are provided in the cabin of the vehicle. Itwill be understood that member 111a or lllb for moving the guide means1080 or l08b into operative or inoperative position will be operatedwhenthe vehicle is on a section of the track which has no lateral guiderail on that section of the track and whilst the vehicle is being guidedby a central guide rail or a guide rail on the other side of the track.

In accordance with a modification the guide elements of the guide meansmay be arranged so that one is fixed and the other movable by themembers 111a, lllb with the fixed element cooperating with the innersurface of the guide rail and the movable element movable into or out ofits operative position. Such a modification is illustrated in F IG. 3.

ln this modification, the vehicle is supported on the track 103 bypressure fluid cushions 104 and is provided with a central guide means102, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, and is provided with guidemeans 108e, 108d on the two opposite sides of the vehicle. In each ofthe guide means 1080, 108d one of the guide elements 1066 is fixed tothe body of the vehicle so as to be maintained in fixed operativerelationship with the inner surface of a lateral guide rail 1 10a andthe other guide element 106C is movably mounted on the body of thevehicle so as to be movable into and out of operative relationship withthe outer surface of said guide rail 1100. The movable guide element ismounted on an arm which is pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis 180so as to be movable into an operative position, shown in full lines, onthe right of FIG. 3, or into an inoperative position shown in full lineson the left of the Figure.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate modified forms of ground effect vehiclesaccording to the invention, which are provided with movable guide meansarranged only at the sides of the vehicle, i.e., without central guidemeans as in the embodiments of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 4, the vehicle is provided on eachof its sides with guide means 126. 126a of inverted substantiallyU-shape having pressure fluid cushions 122 adapted to cooperate withguide rails 125, 133 on a track 123. Said guide means 126, 126a aremovable vertically between operative and inoperative positionsrespectively as shown on the left and right-hand sides of the Figurerespectively. The vertical movement of said guide means between theoperative and inoperative positions is effected by means of screw jacks127 carried by mounting members 128 fixed to the body of the vehicle. Aswill be understood, with this construction the guide means can be turnedabout the vertical axis of the jack so as to be housed within the bodyof the vehicle when said guide means are in the upper inoperativeposition as shown at the right-hand side of the Figure.

in the modified arrangement shown in FIG. 5, the laterally disposedguide means 129, 129a provided with pressure fluid cushions 125a aremounted on the outer end of the piston rod of an hydraulic or pneumaticram 391 carried on a mounting block 392 fixed to the body of thevehicle. The guide means 129, 129a are thus rotatable about a horizontalaxis 390 and axially slidable from an operative position to aninoperative position shown in full and brokenlines respectively at thelefthand side of FIG. 5. The operation of the hydraulic or pneumatic ram391 is controlled by control means preferably situated in the cabin ofthe vehicle and suitable locking means 393 are preferably provided forlocking the guide means in the inoperative position.

The method of operating a ground-effect vehicle having both central andlateral guide means on a track including a main line and a branch lineas illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 8a to 8g will now be described.

The main line, where it joins the branch line is made up at A (FIG. 6)of the two track sections (HO. 8a) and 116 (HO. 8b).

The track section 115 consists of a single central guide rail 107 andthe section 116 includes an extension of the central guide rail 107 andlateral side rails 110a and 11% substantially parallel to the centralguide rail 107. The track section indicated at B (FIG. 6) has no centralguide rail but includes continuations of the two lateral guide rails110a, 1l0b (FIGS. 8c, 8d) with the guide rail 110a curving away from theguide rail 11% to a branch line D (FIG. 6). The main track portionindicated at C includes a section 117 (FIG. 8a) having a central guiderail 107 and a continuation of the lateral guide rail 11012 parallelwith guide rail 107. The branch line section D (FIG. 6) of the trackincludes portions 119 and 120 (FIGS, 8f, 8g), the portion 119 of thetrack shown in FIG. 8f includes a continuation of the lateral guide rail110a and the portion 120 of the track includes additionally a centralguide rail 107.

The operation of a ground-effect vehicle according to the inventionwithout central guide means on a track illustrated in FIG. 6 is asfollows:

Assuming the vehicle 1 is travelling towards section A of the track inthe direction of the arrow F and it is required to continue on the maintrack to the section C, the guide means on the port side of the vehicleare moved into operative position before it reaches section A. Thevehicle is then guided towards section A by the central guide rail 107and when it reaches section A the port side guide means comes intocooperative relationship with guide rail 110k and the central guidemeans moves out of cooperative relationship with the central guide rail107, so that the vehicle is then guided to section C of the track byguide rail 110b only. When the vehicle reaches section C of the track itis guided initially by both guide rails 107 and lb and finally by thecentral guide rail 107 only, whereupon the port guide means are movedback into their inoperative position.

Assuming the vehicle is travelling towards section A of the track in thedirection of the arrow F and it is desired to turn the vehicle onto thebranch line of the track, that is onto section D, the starboard guidemeans of the vehicle are moved into their operative position so that asthe vehicle approaches section A it is guided only by the central guiderail 107 and as it passes over section A of the track the starboardguide means come into cooperative relationship with the lateral guiderail 110a, and the central guide mean move out of cooperativerelationship with the central guide rail 107. The vehicle thus continuesto be guided by guide rail 1 10a towards section D of the track. As thevehicle moves into section D of the track it is guided initially by boththe central and lateral guide rails 107 and 110a respectively andfinally the starboard guide means move out of cooperative relationshipwith the lateral guide rail 110a, whereupon they are moved out of theiroperative position and the vehicle continues along the branch lineguided by the central guide rail 107 only.

It will be understood that when the vehicle is travelling in theopposite direction to that indicated by arrow F from section D of thetrack to section A, the starboard guide means will be moved intooperative position, prior to reaching track section D, so that thevehicle will be guided by guide rail 110a to track section A after whichthe vehicle will be guided only by the central guide rail 107 and thestarboard guide means moved to their inoperative position. v

In the case of a track vehicle having only lateral guide means on atrack illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 9a to 9f having track sections G, H, .1and K, the track section G includes a continuous main line track portion130 (FIG. 9a) having a lateral guide rail 125 on one side only and aportion 131 (FIG. 912) having substantially parallel lateral guide rails125, 133 on opposite sides of said track. The track section G leads to amain line section J and a branch line section K. The track sectionleading to the branch line section K passes through a track section Hwhich includes a continuation of the lateral guide rails I25, 133 (FIG.90) curving towards section K, and track section K has a portion 134(FIG. 9e) containing only the continuation of guide rail 133 and portion135 (FIG. 9]) containing the lateral guide rail 125 on the opposite sideof the track parallel to guide rail 133, said guide rail I33 ending atsection K whilst the guide rail 125 continues along the branch line.

The operation of a ground-effect vehicle according to the invention overthe track illustrated in FIG. 10 is as follows:

Assuming the vehicle is travelling towards section G of the track in thedirection of the arrow F the guide means on the port side of the vehicleare in their operative positions and cooperate with guide rail 125. Ifthe vehicle is to continue along the main line of the track, that istowards section .I, the guide means on the port side of the vehicle arekept in their operative position and the guide means on the starboardside retained in the inoperative position. If, however, the vehicle isto be turned onto the branch line, that is towards section K, the guidemeans on the starboard side of the vehicle are moved into operativeposition before the vehicle reaches section G of the track. When thevehicle reaches that portion of section G of the track, where the twoguide rails run parallel to each other, the guide means on the port sideof the vehicle are moved out of their operative position so that thevehicle is guided by said starboard side guide means along guide rail133. When the vehicle is approaching section K of the track the guidemeans on the port side of the vehicle are again moved into theiroperative position so that when the vehicle reaches section K of thetrack said guide means will come into operative relationship with guiderail whereupon the guide means on the starboard side of the vehicle willbe again moved into their inoperative position, the vehicle continuingto be guided along the branch line of the track by guide rail 125.

It will be understoodthat when the vehicle is travelling in thedirection opposite to that indicated by arrow F, that is from thesection K to section G of the track, the guide means on the part andstarboard sides of the vehicle will be moved into and out of theiroperative positions in the reverse sense, that is the guide means on theport side of the vehicle will be moved into operative position as thevehicle approaches sec tion K of the track, the guide means on thestarboard side will be moved in inoperative position at section K of thetrack and when the vehicle passes the end of guide rail 133 at section Gthe port guide means will again be moved into inoperative position andthe starboard guidemeans moved back into their operative position tocooperate with guide rail 125.

Iclaim:

1. A ground effect transportation system comprising:

a track of generally concave dihedral design having (i) a generallyhorizontal, upwardly facing bearing surface and (ii) at least oneprismatic-extension protruding upwardly from said bearing surface to afree top edge parallel thereto and having two opposite though closelyadjacent, mutually backed outer guide surfaces facing laterally awayfrom each other, said bearing surface and said extension being laterallyoffset with respect to each other whereby said track is of generallyL-shaped cross section with said bearing surface and said extensionforming respectively the horizontal and the vertical arms of the L, andi a ground effect machine comprising (i) a body portion movable oversaid heating surface in substantially frictionless wheelless engagementtherewith through a support cushion formed against said bearing surface,said body portion being in a laterally offset location with respect tosaid extension and having a port side and a starboard side, one of whichis adjacent to said extension and the other remote therefrom, and (ii)two like guiding devices located respectively at said port side and atsaid starboard side of said body portion and each selectivelycontrollable to a fully operative position astride said prismaticextension over-said free top edge thereof, in substantially frictionlesswheelless cooperation with both said guide surfaces through opposite,guide cushions formed against said guide surfaces, each of said guidingdevices having at least one guide surface engaging section which isselectively projectable in one direction from the respective one of saidbody portion sides toward the guide surface to set the correspondingguiding device into said fully operative position thereof, andretractable in the opposite direction whereby said corresponding guidingdevice is no longer in said fully operative position thereof.

2. System as claimed in claim 1, wherein each retractable guiding devicesection is arranged for being extended into said operative position andretracted therefrom, over said free edge of said prismatic extension.

3. System as claimed in claim 1, wherein each retractable guiding devicesection is arranged for being extended into said operative position andretracted therefrom, by a rotation movement about an axis substantiallylevel with and parallel to said free edge of said prismatic extension.

4. System as claimed in claim 1, wherein each retractable guiding devicesection is arranged for being extended into said

1. A ground effect transportation system comprising: a track ofgenerally concave dihedral design having (i) a generally horizontal,upwardly facing bearing surface and (ii) at least one prismaticextension protruding upwardly from said bearing surface to a free topedge parallel thereto and having two opposite though closely adjacent,mutually backed outer guide surfaces facing laterally away from eachother, said bearing surface and said extension being laterally offsetwith respect to each other whereby said track is of generally Lshapedcross section with said bearing surface and said extension formingrespectively the horizontal and the vertical arms of the L, and a groundeffect machine comprising (i) a body portion movable over said bearingsurface in substantially frictionless wheelless engagement therewiththrough a support cushion formed against said bearing surface, said bodyportion being in a laterally offset location with respect to saidextension and having a port side and a starboard side, one of which isadjacent to said extension and the other remote therefrom, and (ii) twolike guiding devices located respectively at said port side and at saidstarboard side of said body portion and each selectively controllable toa fully operative position astride said prismatic extension over saidfree top edge thereof, in substantially frictionless wheellesscooperation with both said guide surfaces through opposite, guidecushions formed against said guide surfaces, each of said guidingdevices having at least one guide surface engaging section which isselectively projectable in one direction from the respective one of saidbody portion sides toward the guide surface to set the correspondingguiding device into said fully operative position thereof, andretractable in the opposite direction whereby said corresponding guidingdevice is no longer in said fully operative position thereof.
 2. Systemas claimed in claim 1, wherein each retractable guiding device sectionis arranged for being extended into said operative position andretracted therefrom, over said free edge of said prismatic extension. 3.System as claimed in claim 1, wherein each retractable guiding devicesection is arranged for being extended into said operative position andretracted therefrom, by a rotation movement about an axis substantiallylevel with and parallel to said free edge of said prismatic extension.4. System as claimed in claim 1, wherein each retractable guiding devicesection is arranged for being extended into said operative position andretracted therefrom, by a translation movement substantiallyperpendicular to said prismatic extension.
 5. System as claimed in claim1, wherein each of said guiding devices further comprises another guidesurface engaging section which is fixed with respect to thecorresponding one of said body portion sides.
 6. System as claimed inclaim 5, wherein said guiding device section which is projectable andretractable, is arranged to undergo a rotation movement about an axissubstantially level with and parallel to said free edge.